Report: Terrorists on Oct. 7 had photo of brigade chief, indicating they targeted him
IDF revealed last week that Asaf Hamami, commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade, was killed during Hamas onslaught and his body was taken
Some of the Hamas terrorists who infiltrated southern Israel on October 7 were found carrying photographs of Col. Asaf Hamami, the slain commander of the army’s Southern Gaza Brigade, Ynet reported Wednesday.
The report further illuminated the intelligence the terrorist organization had prior to the attack, and its efforts to target top Israeli commanders.
Hamami, missing since October 7, was revealed last week to have been killed fighting Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Nirim on that morning and his body abducted into Gaza by Hamas. The IDF has recognized him as a “fallen soldier held by a terror group.”
Many of the invaders were found to be carrying detailed maps of the communities and military bases they were to attack.
The Washington Post reported last month that the terrorist group intended to pursue a weeks-long invasion of Israel, with maps indicating plans of potentially reaching the West Bank.
The report also said Hamas used cheap surveillance drones to create maps of Israeli towns and bases near the border with Gaza while also gathering intelligence from Gazans with work permits in Israel, and even by looking at real estate sites to learn about the layouts of Israeli towns.
Hamas’s October 7 assault saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing some 240 hostages of all ages under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities. The vast majority of those killed as gunmen seized border communities were civilians. Entire families were executed in their homes, and over 360 were slaughtered at an outdoor festival, many amid horrific acts of brutality by the terrorists.
The ensuing war between Israel and Hamas has seen a rising death toll and unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel says it is making efforts to avoid harm to civilians while fighting terrorists embedded deeply within the civilian population of the Strip.
